CLCs

Meet our 2023-24 Collegiate Leadership Consultants!

Within the heart of Gamma Phi Beta beats a rhythm of tradition and innovation, where the past and the future gracefully intersect. In 1943, Evelyn Gooding Dippell (Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1933) blazed a trail as Gamma Phi Beta’s first traveling secretary, a role now known as the collegiate leadership consultant (CLC). Today, that pioneering spirit lives on through a fresh cohort of outstanding CLCs, recent graduates and one returning CLC. Their mission remains the same as Evelyn’s did many moons again: to empower, enlighten and elevate our Gamma Phi Beta chapters. Learn more about our CLCs below, getting an insider look at their stories, dreams and hopes during their year of travel.

Aurora Cotton-Suda (Tennessee-Chattanooga)

Major: Environmental science

Dream job: I would love to pursue a career in higher education, specifically in fraternity and sorority life.

What encouraged you to return for a second year? I wanted the opportunity to continue to help our collegiate chapters grow, connect them with the greater scope of Gamma Phi Beta and expand my own connection to our sisterhood.

How many chapter visits did you make last year? 27 chapter visits in 26 cities!

As the only veteran CLC on this year’s team, what advice have you given to the new CLCs? Some of the biggest advice I gave the incoming CLCs was to trust their knowledge, don’t be afraid to ask for help, find a way to keep organized that works for you and to remember to rely on the other CLCs when on the road!

Kayla Allison (Kentucky)

Major: Arts administration and dance

Dream job: Owning a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities learn and enjoy the therapeutic aspects of dance.

How do you plan to build connections with the chapters during your visits? By meeting the women in the chapter and offering them support in many ways!

What unique perspectives do you hope to bring to the chapters you support? I hope to bring an outside perspective that makes chapters critically think through challenges and discover how they can become stronger.

What encouraged you to apply to become a CLC? All the former CLCs I met and worked with during my time as a collegian inspired me to apply to become a CLC myself.

Grace Engelhart (William & Mary)

Major: Economics and government

Dream job: To pursue law.

What encouraged you to apply to become a CLC? My chapter never received a CLC visit when I heard about the job, so I did not know much about the role initially, but the job seemed so cool and unique that I really wanted to apply! I absolutely loved my time in Gamma Phi as a collegian and loved the idea that I could give back to this organization and contribute to other people having amazing experiences in Gamma Phi. I also love traveling, so applying felt like a nobrainer!

What are some self-care strategies you will use to stay energized and focused throughout your journeys? From traveling experiences to chapter visits to random thoughts, journaling about my time as a CLC has been a great self-care strategy so far.

Julia Serio (Minnesota-Twin Cities)

Major: Art history

Dream job: I’m not quite sure where I’m headed, but I love hands-on work and connecting with other people. I always wanted to be an art teacher, so I think that is my goal, but I want to try other things before that.

What encouraged you to apply to become a CLC? My chapter advisor was a CLC, and her experience sounded so amazing that I had to experience it for myself!

What unique perspectives do you hope to bring to the chapters you support? My chapter won the Belonging, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (BEDI) Initiative Excellence Award at Convention 2022, so, hopefully, I can bring my experience in BEDI to other chapters.